I just had a look and I think you are right, they do include shipping, and they seem to be shipping internationally now. The delivery of 6 to 8 weeks makes me think they are shipping by sea, so that would bring their cost down a fair bit.

Shipping as a kit would be much cheaper, it would reduce the shipping volume by about half, but it comes with risk. When any assembly is required, most people will do it correctly, but some won't, and then warranty becomes tricky. Who is actually at fault if assembly is complicated, the customer for not doing it right or me for not having a simple to use product? And after assembly, the customer would have to level the brint bed and calibrate.

If the machine needs warranty replacement, I would pay for return shipping, and lose massive amounts on the sale. That is why I make pretty damn sure of the quality of anything I sell online.

This printer is aimed at small businesses, and they need to thing to work out of the box, so it is fully assembled and tested. Open box, remove packaging, plug in, load filament and print, within a hour or so is the ideal.

I will get onto the manufacturer to see by how much they can drop the price. When they bought this out there was no real competition, so they loaded the price a bit, as they do. The square frame design of mine adds a fair bit of mass, but that frame is rigid as, and it does give better print quality. Not sure if any reading this is actually in the market for one of these, but I will post the results when I get them.